Welcome to the 804th Edition of my series. I hope all is well with everyone and for those that aren't, I hope things get better. I don't really have a lot to say at this time so I'll just get on with my selections.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011): Brad Bird directed this entry into the popular action series. Tom Cruise reprises his role of Ethan Hunt who must take his new team to clear the name of IMF which is being implicated in an explosion. Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, and Jeremy Renner become part of the team that helps Ethan in his mission. Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Samuli Edelmann, Ivan Shvedoff, Anil Kapoor, Lea Seydoux, Josh Holloway, Josh Holloway, Pavel Kriz, Miraj Grbic, Ilia Volok, Goran Navojec, Andreas Wisniewski, and many others co-star in this action film. This is the fourth installment of the franchise. Cruise does great in his role and does a lot of his own stunts. This has a good story, some great action scenes and is just fun to watch with a few familiar cameos. This is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
A Million of Ways to Die in the West (2014): This is my western comedy for the week which was directed and co-written by Seth MacFarlane who also stars as Albert who is a passive farmer in the American West. The mysterious Anna, played by Charlize Theron, comes into town and Albert takes interest in her while also learning to be more brave. He must put this new courage to use with Anna's murderous husband Clinch, played by Liam Neeson, comes into town and they are not in a very happy marriage. Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman, Christopher Hagen, Wes Studi, Matt Clark, Evan Jones, Aaron McPherson, Rex Linn, Brett Rickaby, Alex Borstein, Ralph Garman, John Aylward, Jay Patterson, Amick Byram, Dennis Haskins, Gilbert Gottfried, Ewan McGregor, John Michael Higgins, and many others co-star in this comedy. This is a pretty fun western parody, most of it worked for me but was not big on some of the gross-out humor that was in this that I'm sure those who have seen will know what I'm talking about. This shows all kinds of ways we can die in the west.
Bad Moms (2016): Jon Lucas and Scott Moore co-directed and co-wrote this comedy of parenting. Mila Kunis stars as Amy Mitchell who has become overwhelmed with being overworked in his job and as a parent. She gets joined by fellow mothers Carla and Kiki, played by Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell, who are also becoming very overwhelmed in their life. They are also tired of "perfect" and PTA parent Gwendolyn, played by Christina Applegate, who makes life difficult for everyone. Jada Pinkett Smith, Annie Mumolo, Oona Lawrence, Emjay Anthony, David Walton, Clark Duke, Jay Hernandez, Wendell Pierce, Leah McKendrick, Megan Ferguson, Lyle Brocato, Wanda Sykes, J.J. Watt, and many others co-star in this comedy. Watch this for what it is, a comedy. It does not have some big plotline but it does have a pretty good message on the difficulty of parenting, especially in today's society.
Fastest With the Mostest (1960): Been on a bit of a kick with Looney Toons shorts on this blog since getting HBO Max. Wile E. Coyote continues to pursue the Road Runner. He has many traps but they just always backfire on him. This is nothing new but still fun to watch though something did occur to me. What if the reason Wile E. Coyote cannot catch the road runner is because the road runner is not real and just a figment of his imagination? Maybe that is why all those traps don't work on the road runner and just backfire on himself being that Road Runner is just a hallucination.
Our Hospitality (1923): This is my silent comedy for the week which was co-directed by Jack Blystone and Buster Keaton. Keaton also stars in this comedy as Willie McKay who must return to his old hometown to claim property that he inherited from his late father. When getting there, he meets Virginia Canfield, played by Natalie Talmadge, not knowing that her family had had a long-standing and violent rivalry with his own family and her not being aware of his identity. He must resort to not getting killed by the Canfields while still being in love with Virginia. This is a not so subtle jab at the real-life Hatfields and McCoys who had a very violent feud for many years. This is in the public domain and can be found to stream many places including Youtube.
The Wrong Man (1956): Alfred Hitchcock directed this film that while has every attribute of Hitchcock's style, this is based on a true story. Henry Fonda stars as Manny Balestrero who is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber. He cooperates with the police as much as he can but the more he cooperates, the guiltier he looks. Vera Miles co-stars as Manny's wife Rose where we see the effects this has on her. Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone, Charles Cooper, Esther Minciotti, Nehemiah Persoff, Richard Robbins, and many others co-star in this film. This is a thriller like most of the other Hitchcock works except as mentioned in a true story. This shows how we just have to be careful on making accusations that can effect people for the rest of their lives.
Farewell Amor (2020): Ekwa Msangi wrote and directed this independent film. Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine stars as Angolan immigrant Walter who is reunited with his wife Esther, played by Zainab Jah, and daughter Sylvia, played by Jayme Lawson, after 17 years of being in different countries. Walter has trouble connecting to his daughter but finds common ground in dancing, while Esther struggles to adapt to the United States. Joie Lee, Nana Mensah, Marcus Scribner, and many others co-star in this film. This is a movie that is driven by the characters and does really well with the relatively unknown cast. This is available to watch on Hulu.
Lola Montes (1955): Max Ophuls directed this film based on the novel by Jacques Laurent. Martine Carol stars as the title character who has lead quite the life but is now the main attraction of the circus. She tells the tragic story of all her past loves that includes composer Franz Liszt, played by Will Quadflieg. Peter Ustinov, Anton Walbrook, Henri Guisol, Lise Delamare, Paulette Dubost, Osker Werner, Jean Galland, and many others co-star in this film. This was a rather surrealistic film, especially during the circus scenes. This is the last completed movie for Ophuls. This was one of the most expensive films in France at the time and was an influence toward the French New Wave period. This is available to watch on HBO Max.
Arsenic and Old Lace (1969): Robert Scheerer directed this tv movie based on the Joseph Kesselring. Bob Crane stars as tv critic Mortimer Brewster who is about to get married to Elaine, played by Sue Lyon. When visiting his aunts Abby and Martha, played by Helen Hayes and Lillian Gish, he finds his seemingly sweet and innocent aunts are rather homicidal. Fred Gwynne co-stars as the murderous Jonathan Brewster and David Wayne co-stars as the other nephew Teddy who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt. Bob Dishy, Jack Giford, Billy De Wolfe, and many others co-star in this comedy. This was re-written a bit for the more modern times like Mortimer being a tv critic instead of a theater critic. Also, Jack Gilford's character Dr. Salk is usually Dr. Einstein. This was a pretty funny adaptation and was good to see people like Sue Lyon in one of her few movies, Lillian Gish in a later role, and Gwynne as Jonathan while being on the rise from THE MUNSTERS at the time. This is available to watch on Youtube.
MOVIE TIME IN THE TOWN OF POTTERSVILLE
Dumb and Dumber (1994): I end the week with this segment, while hanging out with Stephanie, we were looking through HBO Max movies and came across this one. We hadn't seen it for a little while so we decided to just get some laughs for awhile. The Farrelly Brothers directed and co-wrote this comedy vehicle which stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as Lloyd and Harry who are about as dumb as it gets as much as I try not to judge. Lloyd has a brief meeting with Mary, played by Lauren Holly, who leaves a briefcase that he picks up and sets out to return it to her inadvertently getting in the middle of a kidnapping scheme. Mike Starr, Karen Duffy, Charles Rocket, Victoria Rowell, Teri Garr, Brady Bluhm, Cam Neely, Felton Perry, Lin Shaye, Harland Williams, and many others co-star in this comedy. Carrey and Daniels make a great team with Daniels holding his own on the comedic side. This is available to watch on HBO Max.
Well, that is it for this week but I did bring back my segment "The Bookworm Corner" for this week. Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Adam Driver, Hugh Jackman, Lily Tomlin, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, and many others.
THE BOOKWORM CORNER
The Mentor by Lee Matthew Goldberg (2017): This is one of those books I found at one point at the Dollar Tree and it looked interesting enough. This centers around Kyle Brody who becomes an editor at a major publishing house. He is soon contacted by his old professor William Lansing who is very fond of and is excited to learn he has been writing a novel that he wants Kyle to read. As Kyle reads it, he finds it to be very deplorable and rejects his old professor setting off another side of the professor when he plays psychological games with Kyle, threatening his life, career, girlfriend, and his way of life. He also finds himself as a character in this story. This was a very suspenseful story and was very graphic at times. It kind of has a CAPE FEAR meets THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS feel to it so that that for what it is worth. Goldberg has a rather promising career ahead of him and might be one to take a look into sometime.
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